The present invention relates to a hot stamping foil in the form of tape or web, and more particularly relates to a hot stamping foil in which a desired design such as figures and letters which is embossed in a die is obtained through hot stamp transfer of the portions pressed by the die from the hot stamping foil onto a worksheet.
Various types of hot stamping materials for forming desired designs or decorations by hot stamp transfer are well known in the prior art. These conventional hot stamping materials are generally provided with a heat transferable layer including a patterned layer and the transferable layer is transferred through hot stamping. The patterning of design is directly preformed on the tape or web.
In other prior art hot stamping materials, several layers including the hot stamping layer are provided over the surface of a sheet such as a tape or film without forming desired patterns or designs therein. A die with embossed designs is used to obtain a desired design using this type of hot stamping material, and in this case, it is hard to accomplish hot stamping with a clear peripheries because of blurred hot stamping at the peripheral edges along the embossed design in the die. Therefore, hot stamping is carried out utilizing designs or letters cut off from the hot stamping material in tape or web form.
An object of the present invention is to provide a hot stamping foil in tape or web form wherein hot stamping operations from the hot stamping foil onto a worksheet such as cloth, leather, and the like are accomplished utilizing a die with a design embossed therein, and wherein clear peripheral edges along the embossed design in the die are also obtained after completion of the hot stamping operations.
Another object of the invention is to provide a hot stamping foil to enhance decorative effects by reflecting rays falling on a heat transferred portion transferred onto a workpieace.
A hot stamping foil according to the present invention comprising:
a heat-resistant, flexible carrier sheet of a synthetic resinous material.;
a release layer of a heat-resistant, flexible synthetic resinous material provided on a surface of said carrier sheet and having a lower melting point than said carrier sheet;
a laminar assembly having a glass bead layer of fine glass beads provided on said release layer and serving as lens, an aluminum layer provided on said glass bead layer and serving as a specular reflecting surface, and an adhesive layer for attaching said glass bead and aluminum layers onto a worksheet after completion of hot stamping operations: and
wherein when heat and pressure are applied to said carrier sheet through a die with an embossed design therein, only the portions of said laminar assembly which have been pressed by the embossed design are released from said release layer with a clear peripheral edges because of a double structure of said carrier sheet and said release layer, wherein said carrier sheet somewhat absorbs the heat applied thereon so as to prevent said release layer from being stuck to both said die and said laminar assembly due to a meltdown of said release layer, and said release layer holds said laminar assembly as a hole to be stable during the hot stamping process.